Texas Beats Mississippi State 31-3 as Manning Throws Three Touchdown Passes

No. 11 Texas beat Mississippi State 31-3 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin on Saturday, October 31, with Arch Manning throwing three touchdown passes and the Longhorns defense scoring once and recording seven sacks.

Texas took the lead on the first drive of the game and never gave it back. A crowd of 103,586 watched the Longhorns lead 7-0 after the first quarter, 17-0 at halftime, and add one touchdown in each of the last two quarters. Mississippi State scored only once, on a field goal in the third quarter. The quarter scores were 7-0, 10-0, 7-3 and 7-0.

Manning spreads the touchdowns

Manning opened the scoring at 12:59 of the first quarter with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Cam Coleman. In the third quarter he hit Raleek Brown for a 4-yard touchdown at 5:35. He closed the scoring at 7:56 of the fourth quarter with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Emmett Mosley V.

Mosley finished with four catches for 98 yards and one touchdown. Coleman caught two passes for 61 yards and a touchdown, including a 47-yard catch on the opening drive. Coleman left the game and did not return in the second half, after being spotted in street clothes.

Gunnar Spetic added a 45-yard field goal for Texas in the second quarter. Kyle Ferrie kicked a 30-yard field goal at 9:06 of the third quarter for Mississippi State's only points.

The defense scores, too

The second Texas touchdown came from its defense. Rasheem Biles sacked Mississippi State quarterback AJ Swann and forced a fumble, and Maraad Watson recovered it and returned it 61 yards for a touchdown with 1:13 left in the second quarter.

Texas finished with 280 total yards, 220 passing and 60 rushing, to Mississippi State's 187 total yards, 119 passing and 68 rushing. Texas recorded seven sacks and Mississippi State recorded five. Texas played without star edge rusher Colin Simmons and still held Mississippi State without a touchdown.

Injuries hit Mississippi State

Swann exited the game after the fumble play with an injury. He had 97 passing yards, went into the medical tent, and was replaced by Billy Puckett for one drive before halftime. Swann returned to the sideline after halftime with a sling on his right arm.

Running back Fluff Bothwell also exited in the fourth quarter with an injury and did not return. He had 17 carries for 49 yards. Mississippi State was already without starting quarterback Kamario Taylor, who is out for the season.